Perfect Day

Ian & I have had a lot of what we call "perfect days" lately, which is wonderful. Last summer I was working 60+ hours a week at three different jobs. Summer was far from wonderful. Unlike this summer, which is more often than not, perfect.

I spend 2 hours every morning at the pool, from 8-10. And its so awesome. I have 50 eight & unders in my group. Sounds crazy, and some days it is, but I love it. I really do. I know I've said it a hundred times over but I love coaching swimming more than I ever thought possible.. (and lets be honest, a perfect summer day must include a lil pool time...)

I'm nanny-ing for a new family. Two girls who are 6 & 9 years old. And they are kind, thoughtful, polite young ladies. Our days are spent at the park, on a hike, at the High Desert Museum, free movies at the theater, in the kayak, at the pool, having a pick-a-nick. Doing things your supposed to do durning the summer time. Sarah, who is 6 is constantly reminding Ian to say "excuse me" after he burps, and to "never talk with your mouth full" We will probably go to every park in Bend this summer, but the best parks will have monkey bars.

And this summer is also different becasue we have weekends off, together. Ian is off by 1:00pm every Saturday, and off all day Sunday & Monday.

This is what last weekend looked like: Saturday I had breakfast with two of my girlfriends, and after, we headed down to the pet parade. (Bend has the funniest little parade to celebrate our pets! Dogs dominate the long line of people & their pets, but there are tadpoles, turtles, chickens....the best part? A little dog tied to a dozen balloons flying in the air. SO.FUNNY.) Anyways, after Ian got off work we went down to the 4th of July celebration in Drake Park. We walked around the booths, ate lunch in the park listening to a band play. After our stroll in the festive park, we took Taylor for a kayak ride. Someday we'll take some pictures, but she loves the kayak! We swam in the river, paddled around the river, just played in the river for a few hours. Which is perfect on a hot day. It's too hot for Taylor to go on a run, so swimming is a great way for her to burn off some energy. After playing in the mighty Dee-shoots we went to a block party, a family on the swim team invited us, we ate some yummy food, visited with friends, watched the kiddo's on the slip-n-slide. And to end the evening Ian & I sat on our roof & watched fireworks from off the Butte. And Sunday we slept in, went to church, took a nap, brought a bottle of wine, some cheese and crackers and met some friends at the Les Schuab Ampitheater where there is a free concert every Sunday. We sat in the park for two hours visiting, soaking up the sun, listening to music.

Days like this, are fun, relaxing, spent with good company, there is no better way to describe it than perfect.

I think back to other times of my life. 13 years ago a perfect day would have been spent at North Wood, with Mac & Cheese for lunch, Skittles for a snack.

5 Years ago a perfect day would have been a day spent in the busy city, and an evening sitting on row house steps, watching the neighborhood. You would have found me knitting, reading, eating chinese food from the corner store, and laughing, becasue my summer five years ago, I laughed a lot.

3 summers ago, my perfect days we're Thursdays. Although every day was a mixture of perfection and chaos, Thursdays at camp were my favorite. I usually got to ride my bike on Thursday mornings. Lunch on Thursday you could always expect salsa & sour cream, & for dinner they made the best Thursday Juice you ever tasted. We called it Thursday Juice becasue we got it every Thursday. It's really this yummy-mouth-watering-red-fruit-punch-kind-of-juice.mmmmm......Thursday's we spent most of the day at the waterfront, had a BBQ, a big o'll silly camp-fire, made some excuse to jump in the lake after dinner, & we always slept outside under the stars, on Thursdays. I usually took a shower on Thursday's, because Friday was the only day I didn't have to get in the lake. Also, watersports week, kids we pretty burnt out being behind the boat by Thursday, so we'd 'sneak' an inner tube ride in, and would always get in trouble. (ALWAYS) I would bet anyone who would challenge me $5 I could stay on the tube the longest. I didn't lose one bet that summer. The kids loved to watch, but we always got in trouble. No. Matter. What. But it was totally worth it. (PS what kind of jacked up camp do you get in trouble for having fun at??!?) It was pretty jacked up thats for sure. But Thursdays were perfect.

And now, my perfect days are right here. In Bend, OR. With the love-of-my-life. Doing things outside, exploring this fun-little-town we live in, playing in the river... And I like to wonder, what will my perfect days look like in 3 years, 5 years, or even 13 years? It's a fun thought.